The Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2025 Opens for Submissions in Maltese and English

The National Book Council (NBC) is thrilled to announce its renewed collaboration with the Commonwealth Foundation for the 2025 edition of the prestigious Commonwealth Short Story Prize. For the second consecutive year, the NBC is ensuring that Maltese writers can submit a short story in their native language by facilitating the translation into English prior to adjudication.

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is open for submissions until 1 November 2024. Now in its fourteenth year, the prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words) in English or in English translation. Each year, five winning stories are chosen from five different Commonwealth regions – Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, Caribbean and the Pacific. In the final phase, one of these regional winners is selected as the overall winner. The five regional winners receive £2,500, while the overall winner receives £5,000. All winning short stories are published in the literary magazine Granta.

The 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize judging panel is chaired by award-winning Rotuman writer and filmmaker Dr Vilsoni Hereniko, along with distinguished judges from each Commonwealth region. The shortlist will be announced in April, the regional winners in May, and the overall winner in June 2025.

Writers from Malta can submit their short stories in either Maltese or English. The longlisted entries in Maltese will be translated into English for the consideration of the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize’s judging panel. Participants submitting in Maltese are kindly requested to indicate their translator of choice, if any, during the online entry process.

The prize is open to entrants aged 18 years or over and is free to enter. Only one short story per writer may be submitted for the prize. The full eligibility and entry regulations can be found here.

Maltese writers are encouraged to submit their short stories for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2025 by 1 November, and be in the chance of putting Maltese literature on the global map.

Visit the Commonwealth Short Story Prize website for more information.